Stuff

I spent about an hour this morning on a volunteer project at an upscale department store. I was assigned to straighten the displays of neckties; no problem there. It afforded me a glimpse back into the mall scene, a place I've managed to avoid since school started because I've just been too darn busy.

I instantly remembered why I dislike shopping whenever it's holiday time... and I also was reminded that I really AM a person who needs quiet and solitude! It was a bit too warm in the store as well, which contributed to my sudden attack of cold sweat.

That, and I'm in the process of switching my antidepressant medication from the one I've been taking for the past six years to a new one. My old one just wasn't working anymore -- I had known for a while that it wasn't as effective as it had been in the past, but I ignored it until one night I lay in bed and realized that I was pondering all the different ways I could kill myself if I wanted to, and that pretty much did it for me. I made an appointment with my doc and she agreed it was probably time to switch, since they can tend to lose efficacy over time. She switched me from Prozac, which is a type of drug called an SSRI, to a combination drug called Cymbalta, which combines an SSRI with an SNRI, helping with serotonin AND norepinephrine levels rather than just serotonin alone. She did say, however, that the first two or three weeks could be a bit rough while I'm adjusting. I'd say that a mild panic response in a department store is probably a direct result of this transition, don't you think?

One of the things I've noticed right away is that it's making me feel somewhat sleepy. I switched to taking it at night rather than in the morning, to combat this problem, and I'm going to give it the full three week trial period just to see if that will subside.

Maybe this will get me out of this slump I've been in for a while. My blog posts have suffered, I know; I can't seem to be interested in anything much. Rick says it still seems like I'm too busy. I'm going to take a hard look at it all over the next month or so, and make changes where they're necessary.